A Hard Knocked Life
by Everlite
Summary: The recently orphaned Ino Yamanaka finds herself landed in an abusive orphanage, where chores and work are your life by day, and four hours of sleep is your life by night. What measures will she, Tenten, and two boys take to unveil it's sadistic motives?
1. Great Start to a Great Day

**I was getting confused as to where to go with "time", so I decided to simply start a new fic until a thought strikes me. So here it is, I hope you guys like it!!!!**

**Dedications are as follows.**

**Rockleelover! Kyo-chan! Chibi-Penguin-Chan! Doodlebop! ShikamaruHatake! AsianAnimeGoddess! Sora Girlfriend! Tomboy 901! Defender of the Light! KuroNeko1492! Lilly-Finn178! Aki-Child! **

**(I was feeling pathetically spontaneous as I wrote those, so excuse the exclamations)**

**Probably more I can't think of, but again, this one's for you guys, and everyone who loves these pairings!**

**Heh…oh yeah…maybe I should tell you what the pairings are!**

**ShikaIno and NejiTen!**

**Tell me if you want others and I will try to insert them if I can! **

**And now, I will actually let you read the story.**

**Go forth.**

"Stay still, girl!" A noise that sounded something like a wooden plank coming in contact with a person pierced the night.

"OUCH!" A large thump was heard from the floorboards below.

"Do you regret the error of your ways yet, you piece of filth?" Another slam sounded.

"AGH! Yes master…I assure you…it won't happen again." A heaving voice breathed in pain.

"Good. Hopefully you have learned a lesson you will never forget."

**Morning….**

The girl named Ino awoke from her bed, or blanket rather, as it was merely a blanket and a waded up piece of fabric for a pillow.

The sun was just a little above the horizon and she was not yet required to wake up, but Ino had been rudely awakened by a sharp pain. She stretched and massaged her back in the process.

Sleeping on the hard floor every night was no picnic.

She rolled up her dirty, bloodstained sleeves from the night before. She checked her sour spots.

"Just as I thought," she sighed as she got up from the floor. "They're swelling."

She walked to the small wash area in her small room she shared with the rats and wet a brownish cloth that had obviously been used on more than one occasion. The water in the room was always cold as ice, so it was enough to help the stinging of Ino's pain.

Ino put the cloth against the large bruises that had formed over night. She pretty much had a collection of assorted bruises, cuts and scars thanks to her harsh living conditions. She was only recently orphaned, so it wasn't as if she had her whole life to get used to the lifestyle she was adopting.

Her new masters were cruel and abusive, not simply mean and unreasonable like Ms. Hannigan from _Annie. _They were definitely messed up in the head, beating any unruliness they could find and blowing up over such a minor incident as dripping water. Ino had only been there a week and a half and she already knew it was the last place she had ever wanted to end up. It was a living hell.

After cleansing her bruises and rinsing her cuts, Ino got into her work clothes which consisted of a torn up rag dress that looked like it had been worn for generations. She sighed as she put it on.

How on earth could she have ended up here if all places? Her inheritance would have been enough to at least afford a decent orphanage, but she was somehow pushed into this place instead. (AN: sort of like a concentration camp, only not as intense.)

After Ino was dressed, she began to brush her fingers through her hair. She was almost startled when she felt the hair end at least six inches before it should have, and then remembered what had happened a few days before.

"This disgusting blond hair…exactly how long is it?" A bony and raspy woman spoke. Ino looked at the ground. "Stand with posture while I speak to you!" she slapped Ino with much force. Ino's face slanted in the direction of which she was slapped, but did not withdraw. "Now, again, how long are these weeds?" she yanked at Ino's long locks.

"Urgh…16…maybe 17 inches, I dunno." Ino answered back as the tugging grew rough.

"We can fix that." The frail old woman smiled evilly and swiped a pair of shiny scissors out of her belt. Ino's eyes widened at the sight. They were a bit longer and sharper than necessary. The woman snatched up Ino's long hair in a bunch and began snipping at it, not caring how uneven it would come out.

"We can't have all this hair getting in your way," the woman began as Ino and her looked down at the pile of angel hair lying strewn on the ground. "I did you a favor." With that she left Ino. Ino then decided it was the right time to cry, and she did so with no problems. She gathered up her hair from the floor and walked into her room, fearing the days that lie before her.

Ino was tossing the hair she had tied together that night back and forth in her hands. For some reason, she wanted to keep it as a memory. The ends of the hair are always the oldest, and she definitely wanted to preserve the oldest section of her memories.

Ino looked at her reflection in the small compact mirror she had. Her hair was not too uneven, but it was definitely no sight of beauty. It was now a bit longer than shoulder length, much shorter than before. She pulled out a hair tie and began to tie her hair into a tight ponytail when the band snapped.

"Great. That's just all I need…" Ino growled as she let her hair down. She decided to her hair hang down for just that day, hoping her master would not punish her for neglecting to tie it back. She gathered up her bowl and work things and left the room.

As Ino entered the large cafeteria of the orphanage, she scanned the room for her friend Tenten. Tenten had been there since birth having never known her parents, and had opened up to Ino when she arrived at the orphanage. Ino had stuck to her since the first day.

Ino found Tenten at the line and took the place behind her.

"Hey Tenten." Ino greeted her friend as she scooped some cream corn into her bowl in disgust.

"Morning Ino!" Tenten chirped happily back. Tenten's work uniform was identical to Ino's, but had obviously seen more work than Ino's. Tenten looked at the latest bruises on her friend. She rolled up Ino's sleeve. "Hey, what do we have here?"

"I…got caught by Mina last night trying to smuggle some good stuff for the people in our hall. As you can see, it didn't go over so well with her." Ino answered back. Tenten's face fell.

"I'll say. Those are quite some bruises you have. And only at your second week!" Tenten did a low whistle. "I didn't get a severe beating till at least the second month."

"I guess I'm just one of her favorites." Ino groaned as she and Tenten took two seats and dug into their mystery food. "By the way, do you have a spare hair tie?" she gestured towards her messy loose hair.

"Does it look like I run short on supplies for these babies?" Tenten questioned as she pointed to the two buns atop her head. Ino chuckled. Tenten pulled a hair thing off the collection that hugged her wrist and tossed it to Ino who put it in her mouth to hold temporarily. Ino flipped her head forward to gather up her hair and began smoothing it back for a ponytail. When she flipped her head back up.

"Ow!" She heard. She immediately dropped her hair and looked at the source of the voice. It was a boy her age, with spiky dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He had a work shirt that was ripped at the sleeves. His sleeves weren't all that was ripped…so were his arms. Ino turned red. "Whip lash…" the boy said referring to Ino's hair. She turned even redder.

"Oh…sorry!" She said, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Don't worry about it. I've had worse," he gestured towards his companion next to him who had white eyes and long raven dark hair, just as muscular. The dark haired guy ignored this comment that challenged his masculinity and continued to walk. Spiky head walked after him.

"See ya around I guess," he said in farewell before entering the lunch line. Ino stared after him. For some reason…I hope so.

"He's hott isn't he?" Tenten sighed as she rested her chin on her hand and stirred her corn.

"Yeah. His friend didn't talk much though." Ino agreed. Tenten raised an eyebrow.

"I was talking about his friend…" she said. Ino snapped out of it.

"Oh! Um yeah…of course…well he was cute." Ino agreed. Tenten laughed.

"You're really off today aren't you? Come on, I know you have something for Shikamaru, just admit it!" Tenten nudged Ino playfully with a wink. Ino just sat with her eyes full of curiosity.

"That's his name, Shikamaru?" Ino asked Tenten, her mind wondering off as she stared at the boy who was then going through the food line.

"Well…yeah…" Tenten looked at Ino. Ino wasn't taking her eyes off him. She was for some reason…intrigued. "Earth to Ino?" Ino finally redirected her eyes.

"Sorry! I'm just…"

"In love?" Tenten asked, fluttering her eyelashes mockingly.

"Ha, no!" laughed Ino, playfully shoving Tenten. "Besides, I haven't even formally met him."

"…Yet." Tenten said with a mouthful of creamed corn. "Besides, who knows what could have ran through his mind when you happened to lash him with your hair…" Ino laughed and shoved Tenten again at this.

The two girls were all of a sudden startled by a high pitched whistle. All the residents of the cafeteria turned to the head of the room. Standing there was none other than Mina. She had a tight strict face on as she swung her whistle around her fingers.

"All right! All of you now tend to your daily work! Today's lunch will exclude beans today, as you have just had an extended breakfast." The woman's voice rang out throughout the room.

"Five more minutes than usual." Said Tenten in faux excitement, rolling her eyes. Just realizing that the room could then echo even the most muffled of noises, she put a hand over her mouth.

Along with every other head in the room, Mina turned toward Tenten and Ino's table. She walked over, still swinging the whistle around her fingers. When she arrived at the table, she stopped swing the whistle and grasped it.

"What was that?" Mina asked Tenten, cupping her ear as if she didn't hear it the first time. "I said…" She took Tenten by the collar and pulled her to her feet. "What was that?" Tenten shook.

"Nothing…Mina." Tenten replied as loyally as she could.

"Mmhmm." She threw Tenten back into her chair, then faced Ino.

"And you, miss Yamanaka? Do you share this opinion your friend seems to have?" Ino could not bring her self to reply. She could just feel the many faces boring into her, including Shikamaru's, and her face grow hot.

"Unresponsive huh? I thought as much. Tell you what," she tugged the two girls back up. "Since you sassed me," she tugged Tenten harder. "And you attempted stealing from me just last night," she tugged Ino harder. "I have quite a punishment in store for you two troublemakers." She threw them back. "Boiler duty. All day." She said to them. A resounding 'ooh' of pain sounded from the audience, who knew that boiler duty was the hardest, most dangerous work anyone had the displeasure of being stuck with in the orphanage.

"All day?" shouted Tenten defensively. A collective whisper ran through the crowd.

"Mina," Mina's assistant Kelisa appeared behind her, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. "Don't you think that is a little much for kids of their age? I mean, they could get heat stroke or infected lungs if they-"

"Too much???" Mina questioned. "Too much!?" She said louder. "That is too little! Such disrespect in my orphanage will not be tolerated as long as I'm in charge! And since I am one in authority at this moment Kelisa, I suggest you let me do as I wish."

Kelisa fell silent. Mina let a twisted grin grow up her face. Then swung her head back to the girls, as if under the impression the girls would make away if her eyes were off them for more than a few seconds.

She took a breath in, and the girls were sure she was going to shout more at them. Then, as quick as she took in, she let it out slowly. Then she tossed the two girls aside.

"You know what?" She said. "No. Just…get out of my sight." She hissed. The girls scurried away. "That means all of you!" she screamed to the audience. At once, everyone stood and flooded out of the caf, ready to tend to their daily work.

"Oh…my…God…" Ino breathed and she and Tenten exited to doors. Tenten patted her back to comfort her, as Ino was not accustomed to Mina's sadistic outbursts just yet.

"It's ok…just bear with it, ok?" Ino heard a whisper sweep by her ear. She turned to see the boy from before. Shikamaru.

"Oh…ok," Ino said, composing herself. Shikamaru grinned at her.

"Don't let Mina's crap take you down. She just wants to see if you can take the heat. Which I'm sure you can." With that, Shikamaru walked away into the crowd of orphans. Ino could hear her heart pump as he walked away. Tenten sighed and smiled. Those two…

Ino, for just about the first time in this place, smiled. The work immediately felt less painful. She could take the heat.

**One question…shall I continue? Up to you guys! Thanks for reading!**


	2. The Boiler Room

**I don't really know whether or not people like this story, as I just put it out there yesterday, but I'll add more chapters for the three or four who do like it! Thanks guys!**

Chapter 2

The Boiler Room

Ino stood corrected.

The encouraging comment from Shikamaru was nice, but it didn't make boiler duty any less of a nightmare.

"What….temperature….on….this one?" Ino breathed heavily as sweat dripped profusely down her porcelain skin.

"Waaaaay lower than where you have it down." Answered Tenten as she walked over, herself no less sweaty than Ino.

Tenten took one of the scoop shovels and carefully reached into the boiler with it to take some of the coal out. But you know, when you try to be really slow and careful with something, you can see your arms tremble ever so slightly…

"Ouch!" Tenten dropped the shovel to the floor with a pang, coal dispersing all around. Ino stepped around them, as they were still red hot.

"Are you alright?" Ino bent down to her friend's aid and took her arm to look at it. "Oh my god!" Ino gasped when she got a better look at the burn. "Tenten, this thing is going to be huge when it swells!"

Tenten looked unaffected by this.

"Did you hear me?" Ino asked tugging on her arm as Tenten stood up casually. "I said-"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard ya." Said Tenten. "But don't worry about it. Burns like this are the least of your worries in the boiler room."

Ino gulped. What was in store for her?

Little did Ino know, one room over, they were being listened to by two boys.

And those two boys just happened to be Shikamaru and Neji on laundry duty. Surprise surprise.

"Poor girls…" said Neji as he wrung out a work rag and set it aside, though his voice didn't show nearly as much empathy as his words did.

"You're telling me," said Shikamaru peeking through one of the wallboards that lead to the boiler room. The walls in the basement part of the orphanage were flimsy and old, and Mina didn't bother with them. This enabled the orphans to create peepholes, exit hatches, and talk to one another in separate rooms while they did their work.

"It's getting kind of hot," Shikamaru said wrinkling his brow suspiciously.

"Well, maybe that's because we are next to a boiler room, Nara." Neji stated. Shikamaru gave him a withering look before going on.

"No I mean…it's been hot in here before while people are on boiler duty, but never this hot. Look at us, even we're sweating." The boys looked down at themselves to see that they were indeed sweating, and weren't surprised if some of the sweat got into the clothes.

"I have a feeling that those girls have no idea what they're doing." Neji's eyes widened.

_Back in the boiler room…_

"Here, I'll do this then, you just relax…" Ino picked up the shovel in order to finish what Tenten had attempted to do, but Tenten took the shovel back from her and set it against the wall.

"No need. We should just lower the temperature manually." She flipped something up on the wall to reveal a dial.

_Laundry Room…_

"It's about time they decided to use the dial!"

"Yep."

_Boiler Room…_

Ino's eyes narrowed plainly.

"Ok…where was that before?" She asked flatly.

"Mina hates us using the dial. She wants us to learn 'discipline' and all that crap, so she normally has Kelisa down here to supervise the craftier of us. But I guess she decided to cut us slack today, so she didn't come. Now come help me turn this! It's way too hot in here!" Tenten tried turning it, but it wouldn't budge. She waved Ino over. Ino tried, but nothing so much as made a tick of movement. They both tried at the same time. Nothing.

It was jammed.

_Laundry Room…_

"Uh oh…"

"What?" Neji swung his head around. "Did you manage to shrink one of Mina's blouses again?" Shikamaru gave him a stern look.

"Well, one, that was once, and at least I didn't forget to delicate wash her bra!" Shika scolded. Neji cringed at that memory. Let's just say a weeks beating from Mina over her destroyed bra was no party. "And two, no. I meant what's going on in the boiler room."

"Why, may I ask, are you all of a sudden so concerned with them?" Neji tested, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"No reason," Shikamaru shrugged. "I just…feel bad that they have to be in that hell all day and wanted to know how they were holding up," he said all in one breath.

"Right," said Neji. "And perhaps you are the least bit frightened to know that they can't get the dial to work, and have no way of lowering the excessive heat beating down on them as we speak?" Neji asked.

"Hah! So you were listening too!" Shika said grinning, pointing an accusatory finger at Neji. Neji turned away.

"Only a little," he said softly. "And for a different reason than yours…" he added in a mumble, looking through the crack in the wall at Tenten.

"Either way," breathed Shikamaru. "It seems pretty bad in there…should we…?"

"No. At least not yet." Neji answered, returning to his work. Shikamaru was about to protest, but instead heeded his friend's words and returned to his own work.

Although their eyes were on their work, we all known where their ears were.

_The boiler room…_

"Damn…" heaved Tenten, dropping to the floor. "At this rate…we're so gonna get heat stroke…" she said. "There's no way we can take to coal out, because there's too much of it, and scooping even ten lumps could leave us with welts down our arms."

"So basically," heaved Ino, sliding down the dirty wall to a seated position. "We're screwed."

"Afraid so," answered Tenten, closing her eyes.

_Laundry Room…_

"Yep," the two said in unison.

_Boiler Room…_

A creak was heard from one of the wallboards. Then three knocks. Tenten brightened up and lifted her head, happily. Ino was confused though.

Tenten giddily ran over to where the sounds were heard. She gave three knocks back.

Then, one of the wall planks flipped open, and out of them crawled the two boys from earlier, Shikamaru and Neji.

Ino subtly tried to wipe the grease and sweat off her face with her rags.

"We decided you guys needed some help," Shikamaru stood up.

"And that it's way too damn hot and it's getting in the way of working…" Neji added. Shikamaru jabbed him in the side. "Ow!"

"How'd you guys know?" Ino asked.

"Um." Both boys fell silent. How were they to answer that? _We listened to every exchange of words you made through the peepholes in the wall when we should have been doing laundry. _Oh, yeah. _That_ would go over well with them.

"Were you listening to us?" Tenten teased, poking Neji. Neji turned red, as he didn't like being touched, namely not by those of the opposite sex. (AN: 'Are you trying to seduce me miss Tenten?')

"Of course not!" The boys answered all too quickly.

"I mean," began Shika. "Why would we do that?"

The girls just laughed. Guys were so easy to panic. And these particular ones were just so adorable panicked.

"Well, now that you're here, help us please," Tenten said, gesturing to the dial. The boys walked over it and tried to turn it.

"Yep," said Neji. "That's definitely jammed."

"Well thanks, we couldn't tell that much," Tenten said sarcastically with a grin. Neji turned to her. Most girls were no so spicy to him. Noticing he was a having a weirdly steady stare at her, he quickly turned back to the dial.

"So, what do we do?" Ino asked, stepping forward.

"We keep trying." Answered Shika. "Ok, we're all going to turn it at once, ok?" He said. The girls nodded.

They each firmly took a part of the dial.

"Turn!" said Shika. They all began to forcefully try to move the dial.

"Why on EARTH is it suddenly so hot in this building! You girls better have a good-" The voice cut off.

The teens didn't have to turn around to know who's scratchy, bossy voice that was. And they all knew it wasn't good. Ino gulped. As if they didn't have enough troubles today already. They were already going to be punished for having rose the temperature so dramatically, and now are being caught with two other people who should be tending to their own work, all hanging on a mechanism they are banned from using. And this was all happening _within_ what was already a punishment.

"You four. In my office. Now."

**I have two words for these guys. Uh-oh.**


	3. Busted!

**Over 200 hits…11 reviews. Lol, that does very little for my self-esteem. Thanks a lot guys! (cries in corner) Ahem, sorry about that. But thanks so much to everyone who did review. I LOVE YOU GUYS! But if you haven't reviewed and like the story, or have any constructive criticism for it, I'd love to hear it. Because honestly, if there aren't that many reviewers, I'll question pursuing the story because what's the point in continuing a story only like five people like?**

**Sorry, I'm not trying to sound like the snappy people who are all like "ok listen up, if you don't review I wont continue so there!!!" I just really want to insure that this story continues for a reason.**

**Also, if anyone has any plot twists or romance twists you'd like to see in the story, PM them to me! Thanks!**

Chapter 3

Busted!

"What on this PLANET do you think you were doing!" Mina violently grabbed Ino and Tenten by their hair and yanked. "That was YOUR punishment. PUNISHMENT. No help from a dial, or others, and the last thing I need is you soot wads corrupting these two young men!"

With one last yank of their hair, almost bringing to the girls to tears, she turned to the boys.

"How could you have possibly agreed to helping them cheat out of their punishment? Really, you two, I expected better from my two top workers. For goodness sakes!" She merely sighed and shook her head at the boys. Then, back to the girls.

"Well guess what?" she told them, walking closer. "Now you're paying me back in full. Not just for breaking the rules, but also for making this building so frickin hot! Both of you will go for the next two days without meals, boiler duty ALL day, EVERY day, even during your missed mealtimes. Is that clear?"

Ino was startled. As if one day of boiler duty wasn't hard enough, now they were deprived of food AND had to tend to Satan's domain every day?

Shikamaru seemed to think the same. He stepped forward.

Shikamaru took a breath intake. _This is troublesome, but…_

"Mina?" he said in a mature tone.

"Yes, what is it." Mina said impatiently as she put her hand on her desk.

"You have no need to punish these girls again. It was Neji and I who chose to come to help, and it was our idea to use the dial. They were just following what we told them. I'm sorry to say we were in violation of the rules, not Ino and Tenten." Shikamaru said this all in one breath, but each word meant the world to Ino. She whipped her head around quickly, swinging her ponytail as she did.

She mouthed the words _what are you doing? _to Shikamaru. Tenten just looked on with wide eyes, shocked.

Shikamaru ignored it and went on.

"We would be happy to take upon ourselves the said punishments." Shikamaru bowed his head in apology to Mina. Mina was just as shocked as the girls. Shika nudged Neji to go on.

"Um…yes. It was our fault. Punish us instead," Neji said as if he had no clue as to why he had said it, but seemed to have sold it off well to Mina.

"Of all people," she shook her head. "I never would have expected you, Shikamaru. And you, Mr. Hyuuga! I thought you would have had more sense."

"I guess we don't after all," said Shikamaru casually, shrugging his shoulders. "So how bout that boiler room? It's mighty hot up here. We might as well start our work now. Come on, Neji." Shikamaru hitched his head towards the door, telling Neji it was time to leave.

Shikamaru walked by Ino as he left. Their eyes locked for a split second that felt like a lifetime to Ino. In that split-second, Ino could detect a small grin growing on Shika's face. Ino was confused, and let her face show it. But Shikamaru still grinned, as if saying it was ok.

Then of course, the second ended, and Neji and Shikamaru exited the room, shutting the door behind them.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Mina plopped into her chair, clearly as speechless about the turn of events as the girls were. Her two best boys? Committing such heinous acts? _There's something I find rather fishy about this…_she looked at the innocent looking girls. _And one way or another…I'm going to find out. But for now, let them have their fun. _

"You two girls are off the hook," Mina said, standing up and opening the door for them.

The girls, still in shock, slowly walked out the door.

"…For now." Mina added after she shut the door.

With Shikamaru and Neji… 

"Remind me again why you put our necks on the line for them?" Neji asked as he wiped sweat off his (perfect) forehead.

"I think you know why," said Shikamaru. "And you were about to do the same." He took some coal out of the boiler, not aware of the lack of success Tenten had earlier when she tried that.

"No! Well, just…I was thinking about it. But think about what you're doing. We have come _this close _to figuring everything out Shikamaru," Neji held up his two fingers to indicate a small amount. "All these years of sucking up to Mina and just when we think we can get some information, you go blast it all over a couple girls," he huffed and went back to breaking up coal.

"Hey," Shikamaru said severely, his voice suddenly ice cold, and his gaze turning dangerous, a look normally only Neji could pull off. "Ino's not just a girl. And you know you don't think Tenten's just a girl."

"You have only known her four a mere five hours. Why are you so sure about her?" Neji tested, intentionally ignoring the remark about his feelings for Tenten.

"I don't…I mean, I'm not. But there's something about the look on her face when Mina yelled at her that one night that made reminded me of my first days here. It's remarkable how composed she is." Shikamaru explained. Neji shook his head and breathed heavily. Though Shikamaru was his friend, he could tell there were things he kept hidden from him.

"Whatever the case," he said, changing the subject. "You have no idea how much work we are going to have to pull off in order to win back Mina's trust."

"Oh, I do," said Shikamaru, picking up a bucket. "But I think this time…we're going to have some help."

With Ino and Tenten… 

"Why did they do that?" Ino asked in a panic as the two girls took their seats for lunch at the same table they were at for breakfast.

"Relax," Tenten said, putting her hands up.

"But why?" Ino said. "I mean, they lost meals, free time, trust…it wasn't even their fault! It was ours! And that look…" Ino's mind trailed off as it recounted the comforting grin Shikamaru gave her.

"What look?" Tenten asked, confused.

"Oh, um nothing." Ino quickly recomposed. "What I mean is, we could have had all that. But they took it for us." She looked down at her plate and pushed the stale bread around, somewhat unable to eat it. Then, a thought struck her.

"I have an idea…" Ino said.

**(Sigh) Wouldn't it be awesome if guys were really like that? Yeah right. Like that'd ever happen. Anyhoo, no guessing the cliffy please! I hate when people guess and get it right, because it sort of spoils the suspense. No offense! Just please try not to guess. Thanks everyone!**


	4. Beginning of our worst nightmare

**Hey guys! I'm still continuing, but I really really hope a lot more people review this chapter. I made it extra long, and it took me a while, so I truly hope you guys like it. Thank you so much!**

**Warning: Swearing and violence at the end of the chapter!**

Chapter 4

The Beginning of Our Worst Nightmare

"You have an idea," said Tenten boringly. She sighed. "I think our master ideas have gotten us into enough trouble as it is…"

"No," said Ino. "This idea we have to follow up on."

"Fine, what is it?" Tenten asked as she put her fork down, apparently irritable now that her burn really _was_ swelling severely.

"I see you're not eating either," Ino said gesturing towards Tenten's uneaten potatoes and bread.

"Not that hungry, you know?" Tenten explained. "So what's the idea?"

Ino leaned in. "I say, we take the food on our plates, put them in some napkins and bring them down the boys. They're working boiler duty full time, so we can just say we forgot our rags and ask to go down and get them." Ino smiled as if this were the craftiest plan ever to be collaborated.

"Yeah, like Mina's gonna buy that," Tenten said.

"We won't ask her then," said Ino. "We'll ask Kelisa. She's so careless when it comes to her job, she won't think twice about it. Come on, it's the absolute least we could to for them after what they did for us. They won't get any food at all if we don't."

Tenten thought for a second.

"What about Neji?" Ino asked more seriously. Now, Tenten sat back and bit her lip. Sure, she may have had feelings for Neji, but after just narrowly escaping Mina's wrath once, was she ready to put it all at risk? _Again? _

Hell yeah she was.

"Ok," she smiled. "Let's do it."

Ino smiled back. "Awesome. Now let's try to conceal this stuff…" She opened her many napkins, and casually slid her potatoes on to them. After they were all on the napkins, she carefully folded the sides of the napkins over the potatoes and put them in her pocket. She did the same with her bread, as did Tenten.

When the two flattened out their pockets that had slight bulges due to the food, they stood up and when to the exit, which of course was being safeguarded…er…more so stood next to by Kelisa. She was leaning against the doorway, head hung, clearly expressing how much she hated her job.

The two considered just slinking by while her head was hung, but then as they approached, she quickly snapped her head up.

"Can I…" she yawned. "Help you girls?"

"Um, yeah," said Tenten, as she was a better liar than Ino. "We left our wash rags in the boiler room. We need them to complete our next chores. Can we go get them please?" The girls postured themselves and tried to look elegant.

No need though, as Kelisa simply shrugged. "Go ahead, but return promptly." She let the girls pass.

As Tenten and Ino walked down the hallway leading out of the caf, Ino poked Tenten's side.

"Told ya…" She teased. Tenten fake punched her arm back.

"Shut up," she said.

As the two reached the stairwell, they halted when they saw some shadows walking up. They could immediately tell that one of them was Mina.

They quickly hid behind a ledge in the wall and heard the voices halt.

"Oh yes," they heard Mina's originally twisted voice feigning sweetness. "We offer many luxuries to our children here. We are sensitive to the fact that these kids have been through so much emotional pain, and make their lives as calm and soothing as possible."

Ino and Tenten had to stop themselves from gagging. Where they thinking of the same orphanage here?

"Oh that's good to hear…I believe my husband and I rushed into parenthood a bit, I just don't think we have the money or experience to handle a child at the moment." A woman with a younger and softer voice said. The girls heard a baby's cry. "Ssssh…it's ok sweetie…it's just your new home…" At this the baby cried harder. "That's strange. She usually never cries."

"Oh, I'm sure it's just the state of that old downstairs. No one goes down there anyway, so your child won't be exposed to any of the filth down there, no worries! We insure that our children are kept clearly away from and threat of illness or disease." Mina swept in, saving her from losing any chance of a new client.

"Oh, what a relief! I was getting a little conjested myself…aachoo!" The woman sneezed. "Oh, bless me! Sorry about that!"

"Bless you! Not a problem…here's a tissue. Where's your husband by the way…" Mina asked this last thing in a more skeptical way.

"Oh, I think he's just using the bathroom, that's all. Why?" The Woman asked, completely unaware.

"No reason!" Mina said, snapping back into happy-mode again. But the girls could tell she was mad about something. "Now, to the office to sign those legal papers, shall we?" Mina was rushing.

"Oh, but I would love to meet some of the children first!" The young woman said happily.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, but they can't have any visitors today," Mina said quickly. "They're very busy with their schoolwork, and finals are coming up soon. Speaking of which, did I tell you about what fine education we offer here?" The feet slowly lead away from the girl's direction to the office, as Mina had successfully redirected her.

"Oh, you did not! I'd love to hear all about it…" And so the voices trailed off.

Tenten and Ino stepped out of the ledge.

"How off can you get?" Tenten shook her head.

"Poor woman. Doesn't know the death trap she's landing her baby in." Ino said worriedly. Is this how everyone gets landed here? For goodness sakes, are there investigators for this kind of stuff?

"Come on," Tenten said hitched her thumb to the stairwell Mina and the young woman just exited. "Lunch break is almost over."

The two girls rushed down the stairs and down the hall to the boiler room. The could tell the boys were successful with lowering the heat, as it was not nearly as intense as it was when they were down there.

Ino opened the door. "Hey we brought some-" She cut off.

The boys weren't even there.

"What the?" Tenten stepped inside and looked around. "Where'd they go? They're working the all around shift, and Mina was just down here, they couldn't have made away."

The looked around more, until they heard some noises from the closet by the larger boiler. They heard some kicking too. Their eyes redirected to the source of the noises. They made them out quickly…there were people in there.

Ino ran over to the closet and pulled the handle. "God, why is everything so hard to budge in this room?" she asked as she pulled harder.

Tenten came to help, and with much force, the door flew open and out spilled the sweat-covered and burnt at the arms boys.

And you guess, they landed on top of the girls. Their mouths were covered in tape, and they were breathing heavily through their noses. Sweat dripped down their faces like there was no tomorrow.

Let's just say, if someone had entered the room just then, they would have gotten the completely wrong idea.

"Shikamaru?" Ino asked looking up at his pained looking face.

"Neji?" Tenten asked with just as much shock. The both ripped the tape off the boys mouths, ripping off the inevitable bits of skin.

"Very nice," Neji said to Tenten, rubbing the area around his mouth.

"Sorry," said Tenten as she sat up and Neji slid off her and sat beside her, breathing even more heavily than before.

Oddly enough however, Shikamaru made no move to get off Ino, though he may not have been realizing it at the time.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked her, not meaning 'whats up', but regarding why she was down there.

"I could ask you the same thing…" she said, looking at the closet. "But I'll answer you're question first. Here, we smuggled some food for you guys…there's no reason for you to suffer what we deserved." She took the wadded up napkins full of food out of her pockets.

Shikamaru just looked down at her, his breathing slowing, but heart beating faster. She had done that….for him?

"Thank…thank you," he said, starting to tremble for what reason he couldn't think of.

"Um," Ino said looking at their two bodies, still pressed together. "It may be hard for you to eat when we're...like this…"

"Oh!" Shikamaru quickly jumped off her and turned red. "Right. Sorry." _Smooth one, Shikamaru…_he thought. _Very smooth…_

He gently took the food from Ino. Ino looked at Neji and Tenten who were both sitting against the wall as Neji ate some bread. Well, those two were certainly quite the conversationalists.

"What happened?" Ino asked, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" Shikamaru asked, a potato in his mouth. Ino blushed a bit, because it looked pretty cute, but she quickly bit her cheek to stop the blood rush. (AN: This technique courtesy of ShikamaruHatake!)

"Why were you guys in that closet?" Tenten asked, standing up. "With you mouths taped?"

"Mina," the two boys said simply in unison.

"Details?" Tenten asked.

"It wouldn't have to do with that women we saw with Mina as we were coming here would it?" Ino asked.

"Bingo," said Shikamaru. "She basically said we were having company, grabbed us, taped our mouths and shoved us into that closet, threatening to hurt us even more if we messed this up."

The girls cringed at this. What kind of stuff was going on in this woman's head that made her so abusive?

"Then we heard voices go by the door," Neji went on, "We could easily tell it was a soon-to-be client Mina was buttering up. Of course she wouldn't want to run the risk of them thinking she was running some kind of sweat shop, so she just stored us away like we were old belongings." He said. "But there was that other guy…" he turned to Shikamaru.

"Oh yeah," said Shika. "He came so close to finding us, it made our rib cages drop. Lost hope though. Mina simply told him that the temperatures in here were bad for the lungs and dragged the guy out."

_Must be that woman's husband…_both girls thought.

"But he was definitely suspicious," Neji continued. "He wasn't giving into Mina's little happy act one bit. He wanted to see more than just what Mina was telling him." The girls were interested.

"I think he may be accomplishing that as we speak…" said Tenten, looking at Ino as both remembered the woman's words. _Oh, I think he's just using the bathroom, that's all._

The boys looked at them funny and were about to ask about it, when a screeching noise sounded above them. Kelisa's whistle. They also heard other voices coming from the other end of the hallway above.

"What on Earth was that?"

"Oh, um nothing!"

"Will my child have to hear that every day?"

"Of course not! Probably just another child, you know, being curious with our band instruments."

"Oh, you teach band here too?"

The girls could have stamped their feet upon hearing what had just happened upstairs. For one thing, the whistle signaling the end of lunch. And two, the poor woman fell into one of Mina's traps. Again.

"I guess we got to go," Ino said to Shikamaru, picking up her rag as Tenten was ready to go out the door.

Ino turned to go, but Shikamaru took her by her elbow.

"Hey," he said in a deeper in a deeper voice than he had ever used around her before. She turned around. "Thanks." He said, giving her the same grin he gave her before.

"Anytime," she said back.

"You two! I hate to break up the moment! But Ino and I really got to go before we get our butts kicked by Kelisa. We didn't exactly 'return promptly'." Tenten said, breaking the two up.

"See ya," Ino said to Shika as he gently let loose her elbow. She left with Tenten.

"We got to get back up before-" Ino and Tenten bumped into something strong. They looked up to see a man with dark blue/blackish hair that went into a beard. Out of his mouth hung a cigarette.

"It's about time I actually saw some of the children here," the man said as he looked at the two girls' dirty rags and bruises. "And I'm not sure I'm impressed with their state." His eyebrows wrinkled in anger. Then the girls realized quickly that this was the husband.

"Um, hello sir," Tenten said as the two girls took a step back from the man. "We must be going now…" They attempted to leave but the man stopped them.

"Are all the children here like this?" he asked seriously.

"Like what?" Ino asked, pretending to be ignorant.

"You look abused to me." He answered, lightly picking up Ino's arm and examining her bruises. "These look fairly recent." His voice had anger in it.

Ino was about to begin, until a voice swept over.

"Oh! Deary me! Kurenai, looks like your husband has discovered…my two best actresses!" Mina gave down the stairs all to quickly and took each girl in an arm. "Amber," she gave Ino a squeeze. "And Mary Beth!" She gave Tenten a squeeze. Tenten wrinkled her nose in disgust. _Mary Beth? Actresses?_

"Oh, don't be panicked at their physical appearance!" she said as if it were nothing. "They're auditioning for our play we'll be putting on shortly! _A Christmas Carol…_they are going to be beggars, you see. Very passionate. Right girls?" She gave each girl a painful squeeze to their shoulders. "Right?" she dug her nails into their skin.

"Of course," the two girls said.

"Hm. If they are your best actresses, why are they playing beggars?" The man asked skeptically, not buying a word of what Mina just said.

"Asuma!" The woman who was Kurenai hissed at him in a "don't be rude!" way.

"Oh, well um…" Mina looked for a lie to pull out of the air to save her self from this one. "Multiple students play multiple parts. Did you know? They play beggars on the streets during some scenes, but are Bob Cratchit's daughters in others, you know?" Mina smiled an accomplished smile.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Kurenai said, bouncing her baby.

"Indeed…wonderful." Asume said, still not phased. "Then I assume those two boys in that, might I add _steaming hot, lung damaging _boiler room will be playing beggars also?" He pointed at the boiler room door, which was left just ajar enough to see the two boys. The girls bit their lips. There would be hell to pay when they got out of this.

"Oh, them!" Mina tried to laugh it off. "Those boys are both auditioning for the role of Tiny Tim!" She said.

"Since they are both very blatantly Tiny," Asume said sarcastically, once again successfully contradicting Mina's attempts.

"Come on honey," he told Kurenai. "Let's look at some other orphanages…" He tried to take his wife with him, but she remained, looking at the ground.

"Sorry, dear," she said. "But I already filled out the forms. Mina now has full custody of Marnie." She propped up her baby, who was apparently named Marnie.

"Honey, you can't be serious," Asuma said, clenching his fists as Kurenai handed Marnie to Mina. "Have you not seen this place for what it is?"

"I have indeed, and I have decided it's a quaint little orphanage that provides care and nurturing to its children. And that's just what I want for my baby if I can't take care of her myself. I'm sorry dear, but I think I made the right choice." Kurenai kissed Marnie on the forehead one last time.

"Mommy loves you, sweetheart," she said, taking off her necklace and putting it on Marnie. "No matter how lonely you ever get, you will always have a piece of me with you. Never forget that."

Ino immediately felt her heart stop as she caught a glimpse of the necklace. The trinket on the chain was a diamond rose. (AN: Catch any hints of my other stories in that sentence?)

Ino looked at the chain around her own neck. One of the same. She had found it on her bed after she got home post-death of her parents. She looked back and forth, but decided it meant nothing. The world turns, and people can coincidentally have identical necklaces.

Asuma looked on in anger. He had just given his child up to this odd place.

"Ah, don't worry," Mina said, bouncing the baby roughly as she looked at the tearful Marnie in a fake maternal way. "Little Marnie is going to grow to be a very strong woman, I assure you," she said.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Kurenai said happily as she started up the stairs. "Bye, honey!" She blew one last kiss to Marnie. Asuma also kissed Marnie goodbye.

"Be strong," he said into the baby's ear, though knowing she didn't understand. "You will need it for this place. A child of mine can bear through anything. Don't let this place destroy your dignity. Love you," he said before following his wife up the stairs, shooting Mina a look.

"This won't be the last time we meet." He said in a deathly voice only them two could hear. "If you hurt my girl…I will know."

As he walked away from Mina, he passed Tenten and Ino, who were standing by the stairwell.

"Please take good care of my daughter," he whispered as he passed.

With that, the couple both went up the stairwell. Mina stood where she was until she heard the final door close. Then, she sat Marnie on the ground, and all hell broke loose.

"Sluts! Unreliable, sneaky, filthy little BRATS!" She hit each girl with all the force she could muster. Before the girls knew it, they were on the ground with bloody noses.

The boys ran out the boiler room to their aid, but Mina halted them.

"And you boys! Have ANY of you ungrateful children ANY idea what you nearly cost me?"

It was official. Mina was flying off the handle.

"Ma'am, I heard shouting…MINA! What are you doing?!!!" Kelisa walked down the stairwell and instantly dropped the folders she had in hand.

"YOU!" Mina pointed a finger at the frightened Kelisa. "This is partially your fault! First, YOU let the girls out of the cafeteria, when you were well aware of their actions this morning!"

"I, I had no idea they weren't going to-"

"Save it. And second, I thought I told you NO WHISTLES on visiting days! Shit, it took me a lifetime to think up an excuse for that ruckus!" She turned back to the kids. "And you kids…" she said. "You kids think what's happening now is bad? Well just you wait. I run this show. Yep, that's right. And as long as I'm producing it, I won't be degraded by inferiors such as yourselves."

She looked down at the tearing Ino. "You," she said, cocking her head in faux-pity. "Poor you. You're folks died only recently, huh? They would be ashamed of you if they could see you now."

Then, she turned to Tenten. "You!" she laughed. "You never even knew your parents. What have you to build off of anyway?" Tenten looked at the ground and dug her nails into it.

"And you boys," she looked at them. "Your parents…all four of them brutally murdered. What fools they were, deserved what came to them. And you two…powerless to have stopped it." She pretended to tear.

"And what have we learned today?" she said, summing all of her insults up. "You're all too low of individuals for anyone to ever care about. If you're lucky, you may have a scrap of your lives left. But no…have things your way. Do you know what I think I'll do?" She picked up the small baby. "I might have a little fun messing up this child's life as well!"

Just then, Ino couldn't take it anymore. She swung her legs around, taking out Mina's feet from under her, sending her to the ground. Ino got ahold of Marnie first.

"Sadist…bastard…" Ino breathed as her nose bled, looking down at Mina.

Mina glared up at her. "Why you…"

"Go…to Hell…" Tenten said as she stood up. The boys ran over with the duct tape Mina had used against them earlier. With it, they tied her wrists to a stairwell pole. Mina kicked, but could break the strong tape's bond.

She looked up at Kelisa.

"Well, what are you waiting for? HELP ME!" She screamed at her. Kelisa looked at the kids, then at Mina's angry face. Back and back again. Until she made her decision. She kneeled next to Mina.

"I knew you would help me," Mina smiled evilly at the children. Then, before she knew it, Kelisa ripped off a huge strip of tape and taped Mina's mouth shut. Mina made muffled noises, but to no avail.

"Come on," Kelisa said the kids, gathering up her folders. She rushed down the stairwell and down the hallway. "Come!" she said when they hesitated. They all immediately followed. They could tell this was only the beginning of their worst nightmare.

**Surprising enough, this is in fact _a _climax, but not _the_ climax, so don't think it's all over before it even began. There are more surprises to come. Sorry Kurenai's so out of character, I just had to make her Asuma's wife! They're so cute together. And about the baby's name, I named her Marnie since my mom was about to name me that. R and R please, thanks guys!**


	5. Diamonds and Platinum

**Hey guys! Sorry this chappie might not be that good, but you kind of have to read it, because A LOT of questions are answered in it, trust me. This chapter's soul purpose was to basically answer the long awaited questions. I hope you like it!**

Chapter 5

Diamonds and Platinum

"Where exactly are we going?" Shikamaru asked Kelisa as they walked down the hallway that seemed endless.

"Just keep walking. I knew this day would come…I was hoping it wouldn't, but…" she just sighed and shook her head. "Now that she's snapped, things are only going to go downhill from here."

"Um," said Ino. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"You'll see shortly," said Kelisa.

Soon enough, Kelisa stopped and bent down, taking a board off of something on the ground. The teens looked around her to see where and why she stopped. They were almost startled to see another spiral stairwell, leading down even deeper.

"So the basement…has a basement?" Ino asked confusedly as she began to lightly bounce the despaired Marnie in her arms.

"Yep." Kelisa answered simply as she started walking down it. The teens looked at one another. _Alrighty then._

They all followed Kelisa down the winding staircase.

"Watch your step," she called up to them as they all grasped the railing firmly. "The stairs are steep and narrow. It's easy to loose balance. Careful with the baby, Ino!" Kelisa looked at the struggling Ino. You can't blame her really. Keeping balance down a brittle tiny winding staircase while holding a baby in your arms is no simple task.

When they reached the foot of the stairs successfully, it was pitch black. Kelisa waved her hand around above her head.

"C'mon…I remember there being a light down here somewhere…ah." She grabbed hold of a string and pulled it. Once she did, lights turned on all over the place to reveal a large room, full of papers and computers. There were also many files.

"What…what is this?" Tenten asked as she and the rest of them advanced towards the technology.

"Ever wonder where Mina goes when she's not upstairs bossing people around?" Kelisa asked, sitting down at a chair by a computer. The rest of the kids pulled one up and sat around. "Down here. This is where her legal files of the children registered here, and backgrounds of their old families go."

"Down in the dumps, huh?" Shikamaru mumbled as he looked away. Ino looked at him sympathetically.

"But it's bigger than that," said Kelisa as she hit an icon on the screen that look something like a skull and crossbones.

"Here," Kelisa said, sitting back. "Is where her true madless lies. Your parents didn't die on accident, children."

Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other. They both had a feeling this was the case, but were never sure. They listened for more.

"Mina…she's had issues."

"Well that's quite obvious," said Ino, wiping blood off her nose.

"Again, it's worse than that." Kelisa said, bringing up a file on the computer. "She's a sadistic criminal. She takes joy in you kids' pain. Does that tell you something about your parents' deaths?" She asked them. They all immediately went into shock.

"She wouldn't…" Ino said in a low voice.

"Has she been anything but that as long as you've known her?" Kelisa reminded her.

"Guess not…" Ino said to her self. Kelisa went on.

"Recognize anything familiar about these reports?" She pointed to each heading on the page.

Each teen knew it right away. Each paragraph was the report of their parent's deaths.

They read the first one.

**_Fillmore, Gerhardt (DP)_**

_**Fillmore-Levski, Skylar (DP)**_

Tenten felt a tear roll down her cheek in being reminded of her dead parents. She read on about their deaths, more intrigued than she had ever felt in her life. She had never known what actually had killed them.

_**The bodies of Gerhardt and Skylar Fillmore were found dead Tuesday evening, both on top of a school lunch table. As unlikely a place as this seems to be the setting of the act of murder, both bodies were found to have been beating to death, as they were bruised black and blue with distorted features. On top of the two bodies was a single necklace with a diamond encrusted rose trinket. According to family friends, the necklace was to be given to their newborn daughter Tenten, whom Skylar gave birth to just a week before. However, the day following the discovery of the bodies, the necklace was reported missing from the evidence case. No clues of any sort were trailed by the murderer and theft. Authorities have yet to comment of the issue.**_

Tenten silently cried as she read this. Never in her life had she known her parents had died such an untimely gruesome death…and what was this about a necklace?

Tenten felt a hand on her back. She looked to see that it was Neji. The look on Neji's face told her he didn't really know what he was doing, but it felt like the right time. Tenten smiled at him through her tears.

"Don't worry," he told her in his smooth as silk voice. "We're all in the same boat here."

Tenten wiped her tears away.

"Thank you," she told him as she looked back at the screen. "I know."

"There's more," said Kelisa, scrolling down. The next names on the list popped Neji's eyes.

_**Hyuuga, Hiazashi (DP)**_

_**Hyuuga, Artemis (DP)**_

The bodies of the great Hiazashi Hyuuga and his wife Artemis were found beaten severely at the face and arms last Wednesday night. The reporter of the bodies said, "they looked as if they were just thrown carelessly onto that picnic table over there. I would not have found them had I not caught the shine of luster in the moonlight. I followed it and found a necklace with this shiny platinum rectangle on it. It wasn't until I looked more closely on the nearby table did I see the dead bodies. Creeped me out of my wits." The individual could not manage to bring the necklace to the authorities for further investigation, as he claimed he "must have misplaced it. Can't find it anywhere…"

**_Could these murders be related to the murders of Gerhardt and Skylar Fillmore only five years ago, only one day after? Many think so, as both victims were beaten to death, both discovered on picnic tables with a necklace nearby. See related: Shikaku and Elaine Nara; Inochi and Maya Yamanaka_**

"Anyone seeing a pattern here?" Kelisa asked them, clicking on Shikamaru's parents.

"Sure am…" mumbled Neji, crossing his arms. He knew very well about his parent's murders, but didn't take kindly to being reminded of them in such bare detail.

"Oh…should I stop then?" Kelisa asked, becoming aware of the emotional pain that was coming back to the kids.

"No, by all means, go on," said Shikamaru, anxious to see if his parents were killed in the same fashion.

"Alright then." Kelisa scrolled to Shika's parents.

**_Nara, Shikaku (DP)_**

_**Nara, Elaine (DP**_

_**On a dark Thursday night, Shikaku and Elaine Nara's bodies were found beaten to death on a lunch table by a school. A custodian claimed to have found the bodies strewn across the table one night while cleaning up the lunch area, only seconds after coming across a platinum rectangle hanging on a silver chain. After contacting the authorities, the custodian claimed to have set the necklace right on the table next to him. However, he accidentally left that night without having given it to the police. The next day it was found missing.**_

**_These murders are said to relate to the past murders of Gerhardt and Skylar Fillmore and Hiazashi and Artemis Hyuuga. It also relates strangely to the later murder of Inochi and Maya Yamanaka that took place only weeks ago, and still is baffling the police._**

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru kicked back and pretended to be unaffected after just reading this, but Ino could easily tell he was. No one could sit through a summary of their parents deaths. No one.

"Last but not least," Kelisa said as she clicked on Ino's parents.

Ino braced herself for what she would be seeing next.

**_Yamanaka, Inochi (DP)_**

_**Yamanaka, Maya (DP)**_

_**Very recently, Inochi and Maya Yamanaka's bodies were reported dead one Friday night, found bloodied and bruised heavily on a lunch table near a school. Their deaths relate highly to the mentioned, but one thing turned out differently. There was no necklace to be found. **_

_**While these last four murders appear to be linked, in confuses the police that they were spaced with no specific intervals in between. The years in between the murders are 5, 3, 1, and 5 again. For now, we can only pray the killer doesn't strike again.**_

"So that's it." Ino said, brining he knees to her chest after sitting Marnie safely in the center of the table against the wall. "They were beaten."

"Yep," said Kelisa, swiveling her chair around. "All of your parents died in an identical fashion. Now answer me this…" She stopped her chair and looked at the teens sternly. "Who do you know you takes pleasure in other's pain?"

At this the children thought. The proof was enough. Mina had indeed killed their parents.

"But why?" asked Ino. "What was her motive? Killers always have motives!" She sputtered.

"Oh, she has a motive," sighed Kelisa. "And it goes way back." She swiveled her chair around to face back to the computer screen. "I've been told this story numerous times before."

"We're listening," said Neji leaning inward.

"All of your parents…they all went to the same high school." She told them, her head hung.

"They did?" Shikamaru asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. And they were all very popular. They along with another couple…I think their names were Asuma and Kurenai…were attractive, smart, funny, and more importantly, kind to everyone. Needless to say, they ruled the school."

The kids leaned in further. "And?"

"And no one really had a problem with that. Everyone liked them. They were called Diamonds and Platinum, DP for short, as said on their files." Kelisa pointed to the 'DP' marked by each name.

"Um…why diamonds and platinum?" Tenten asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you see," began Kelisa. "Since it was made up of couples, each one cared for each other deeply. The guys considered the girls 'their diamonds', and the girls considered their guys 'pure platinum'." The teens still stared at her confusedly. "It just stuck to them, ok?" she cleared up.

"Wait!" said Ino. "The necklaces…diamonds? Platinum? They have to be linked."

"They are," said Kelisa. "The guys gave their girlfriends a diamond studded rose necklace, while the girls gave their boys a rectangle plaited platinum one. Some thought of it as an object of membership, but more thought of it as acts of love they all had for one another."

"So, what does that have to do with anything?" Neji snapped, still sensitive after reading the report.

"Well, let me finish. There was one person who did have a problem with it. And that was Mina. She wanted in that group so bad, but she was just too…"

"Evil?" Ino offered.

"Bitchy?" Tenten dropped in.

"Insensitive?" Shikamaru asked.

"Repulsive?" Neji scowled. Kelisa cracked a smirk.

"Yeah, pretty much all those. They had an image to maintain. They didn't want someone like Mina trashing everything they stood for."

"So what did they do about her hanging around?" Tenten asked. "God that would have been annoying."

"They were cordial, but didn't like associating with her. They were kind when necessary, but avoided her whenever possible," Kelisa began to scribble aimlessly on a pad of paper, obviously not liking to probe this subject.

"And Mina…she didn't like that, I'm guessing?" Neji asked.

"Not at all," Kelisa said in a dark voice. "She wanted social status that she knew she could never have. She felt so long isolated that she simply…well, went mental."

"And so she created this place?" Shikamaru asked angrily. "To take her teenage frusterations out on orphans?"

"Well, that was one way she took out her frusteration…" Kelisa said deathly. "And four the other…she felt the only way to rid herself of her troubles was to get rid of what caused them in the first place. So she took your parents lives, and everything that would have reminded her of her high school days."

"The necklaces," said Ino, looking down at hers and Marnies.

"Ah, yes the necklaces," said Kelisa. "Those are what set her off the most. If her life goal wasn't to destroy the DP, it was destroying those necklaces they took such pride in…"

"Um…" said Ino nervously, running her finger around the diamonds on her necklace.

"What?" Kelisa asked her.

"About that whole destroying thing…me and Marnie…we still have them."

Kelisa's eyes could have popped out of her skull right then had eyes not naturally been latched in the sockets.

"Oh, no…" said Kelisa, rubbing her temples. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…." She rubbed her temples even more. The kids were almost sure she would rub them raw.

"What's wrong with that? That's good isn't it?" Ino asked.

"No, no, no, dear," said Kelisa, standing up and pacing. "Mina…we went over the fact she's mental, remember?"

"Well, yeah, we could kind of tell," Ino said.

"Then I will let you know now, she is relentless until she gets rid of every scrap of her past troubles." She walked over and looked at the girls necklaces. "Every…scrap."

"So you mean to say…" Ino began, her eyes glazing over.

"I'm coming for you and that little piece of filth next?"

Ino froze. The icy voice behind her was just enough to make her blood run cold. She turned around slowly.

"…Mina." She said. All the teens stood up immediately and glared at the casual looking Mina, who was leaning against a wall with torn tape around her wrists.

"Ah, yes," Mina said wickedly walking over. "Don't you watch your movies kids? The antagonist is never silenced. They always come back for a sequel."

The teens moved back as she moved forward. But not Kelisa.

"Ah, Kelisa!" she said. "Looks like someone's been studying up. Tell me, have you forgotten what became of your parents?"

"Dead. Killed by this bitch I know named Mina," Kelisa shot back. Mina scrunched her eyebrows at the insult, but then let her face drop normal.

"That's right. Well, my stupid niece, my sister didn't name me your guardian for nothing!" She spread her arms. "Tell me, have I not given you fair treatment?"

"You're sick," said Kelisa stepping back. "You murdered my parents. And then you get custody over me. Then you make me your little slave runner. Well, guess what? I know something you don't _Auntie." _Kelisa snapped.

"Oh, love to hear it sweetheart!" Mina said mockingly.

"Right over here, bitch."

**IM SO SORRY!!!! ABOUT THE LACK OF ROMANCE…SO SO SO SORRY! IT WON'T BE LIKE THAT FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, I SWEAR! I WILL INSERT A LOT IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS, AND LIKE IN HIGHSCHOOL, I WILL MAKE ONE DEDICATED TO THE COUPLES COMPLETELY! R and R please, thanks so much guys! **


	6. Turning out the Lights

**This is what I call a quick-chapter, which is more a snippet than a chapter. I had an idea, but I need a few more days to finish it, so I typed up as much of the idea as I had in my head, and decided to load it before I forgot it. Hope you like it!**

Chapter 6:

Turning out the Lights

"What the-"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fist met Mina's face, sending her flying across the room and into a table. As the table hit the wall, sawdust fell everywhere, creating a cloudy atmosphere.

As the sawdust ceased, the kids looked further into it to see two adults standing there. Asuma and Kurenai.

"I told you it wouldn't be the last time we meet." Asuma, blowing dust off his fist.

"Ah…I had a feeling…" Mina said as she staggered to her feet. "We have some issues to clear up Mr. _Platinum…" _she said, cracking her neck.

"First things first." With that, Asuma punched her back down again, sending her to her butt. (AN: TAKE THAT!!!!)

"Now if you don't mind Mina, I will be taking my child back," Kurenai said, marching over to Marnie to pick her up. "Hey honey…it's ok, she won't hurt you…" Before she could reach Marnie, she felt something grab her ankle and trip her up. Kurenai lifted her face from the ground and looked into Mina's stone cold eyes.

"I was hoping I would never have to see you're face again, Mina." She said, glaring.

"So you recognized me, eh?" Mina said, wiping blood off her mouth with her sleeve.

"That and," Asuma said glowering at her. "On the way out, Kurenai happened to pick up the newspaper and read about the deaths of our friends. Dispicable, Mina. Dumping them on picnic tables, just because you could never win a position at ours during lunch? And stripping them of their necklaces?" He stepped closer, setting his jaw. "And you think that's going to solve your issues?"

"You want to know my issue Asuma?" Mina said in a serpent like voice, standing up again slowly. She lowered her head as a shadow cast over it. "Is that you're alive. And so are these spawns of you and your friends."

Suddenly, Mina hit a button on the wall. The lights went out, and the whole room went pitch black.

"What happened to the lights??"

"Well, they quite obviously went out…"

"UGH, I know that…"

"Don't fight guys, not now!"

"IS EVERYONE HERE?" Asuma's voice sounded. Just as it did, the lights went on.

Every ones eyes widened. Mina was gone.

But she wasn't the only one.

So were Ino and Marnie.


	7. Rational Thinking

**Another sort of quick-chapter! Don't be mad, please! But more quick-chapters means more frequent updates. I hoped you like this one.**

Chapter 7

Rational Thinking

"Ino!" Shikamaru and Tenten called in unison.

"My baby!" Kurenai cried, clutching her chest.

"…Mina." Growled Asuma, fuming.

Shikamaru turned to Kelisa. "You! You know the crevasses in this place, where could she have disappeared to with Marnie and Ino in that time?" He asked her this desperately. Kelisa bit her nails in a panic.

"I honestly don't know!" she said nervously. "There are still things here not even I have figured out. Mina may be an evil mental case, but it's usually the evil mental cases that are the most crafty."

"Yeah well that got us absolutely no where…" said Neji, looking around.

"I'm sorry but I don't know," Kelisa tried explaining again. Suddenly, Shikamaru thrust himself forward at her and grabbed her fiercely by the shoulders.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?" He yelled at her. "THE WOMAN'S CRAZY! THEY COULD…" Shikamaru let his grip on the frightened Kelisa's shoulders loosen as they began to drop. "They could…Ino could…" He hung his head. Kelisa saw a droplet hit the floor.

Shikamaru felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Asuma towering above him.

"I know," he said in an understanding voice. "But you won't have to worry. We _will _get out girls back."

"How are you going to do that?" Tenten asked, frightened about what happened to her friend.

"Having known this young man's father, I can just tell it's a like-father-like-son matter here. You've got an impressive IQ, right boy?" Asuma patted Shikamaru's back.

"I guess so…" Shikamaru said, raising an eyebrow, wondering where Asuma was getting at.

"And you too?" He looked at Neji. Neji made a muffled 'hmp' in reply. "Thought so. Then that's all we need. A few good brains can take down an evil mastermind with ease, if one is cautious," he said. Kurenai sighed.

"I'm afraid you've been reading too many Sherlock Holmes books, dear. I thought I took those away from you." She shook her head.

Asuma turned red. "Well, those book's logic just _happens, _to come in handy in this little situation, honey," he said to Kurenai.

"Fine," she said quietly. "Whatever will get our Marnie back is fine with me."

Shikamaru felt a bit more reassured, but his feelings did not sway.

_I swear…_he thought as his face turned angry. _If Mina hurts Ino…she won't live to tell about it._

_OTHER PLACE (AN: YOU WILL NOT KNOW WHERE YET…)_

"Mmph! Agh! OUCH!"

"Shut up you rat! And keep that baby's wailing under control!"

"You-urgh- won't get away with this!"

"Oh, I'm sorry dear…" A large thump sounded. "I already have."

WITH OTHERS 

"Ok, boys…" Asuma put his hands together. "What do you find odd, or uneven about these floorboards? Anything works. Anything you find peculiar," he advised them.

The two geniuses studied the floor for a few seconds.

"The pattern of tiles," said Neji. "The rows here are in an even formation…this row is more slanted," he said.

"Excellent," grinned Asuma. "Anything else?"

"The mold," said Shika. "The mold around every other tile is a deep gray, while the molding around this one is a brighter gray."

"Bingo," said Asuma. "You boys are quite the observers. Didn't expect any less from the offspring of two of my best friends."

Kurenai and Tenten stood to the side, both quivering as they looked at the tiles.

"I sure can't see anything peculiar about them," Tenten said, tilting her head.

"Then it's not just me," Kurenai said, sighing as she leaned against the wall. She buried her face in her hands. "Goodness…my poor baby. She's so precious to me. I won't be able to bear it if what happened to my friends happens to her. I…" Tenten heard a sob. "…I don't know how I will live."

"Don't worry," Tenten comforted her confidently as she looked proudly at the concentrating Neji. "They won't let you down. They won't let any of us down."

Neji, being one to catch just about every exchange made, heard this. Tenten wasn't aware of it, but he knew she was staring at him. If it were any other person, he would have told them to get lost or something, as he didn't like being stared at steadily. However…this person for some reason, didn't tweak one nerve in him. He, dare he say, kind of…enjoyed it.

"Neji, sorry to break your daze, but we've got some deep issues here," Asuma snapped Neji back into reality.

"My bad," said Neji, concentrating on the ground again.

Shikamaru looked steadily at the floor. _There has to be more to it than that…people don't just up and vanish. _He looked harder at the discolored tile. He concentrated on it harder. He saw a very small tab poking out the side.

_What the? _He bent down. He put his finger under the tab to lift it. It was red.

He considered pulling it, then hesitated. _Curiosity killed the cat. _

"What ya find over there, Shikamaru?"

Then he thought rationally. _Screw the cat. Ino's life is on the line. _

In his curiosity, Shikamaru very slowly pulled the tab. As soon as he did, the tile instantly tilted in, sending Shikamaru down a square-shaped chute.

"Shikamaru!" he heard the calls echo from above. "Shika-" instantly, the sound zoned out. _Of course…_Shikamaru thought as he dropped. _Sound mufflers. _

The remaining light faded out, as the chute's opening automatically closed. He heard a click. Shikamaru gulped. The sound mufflers didn't effect that sound at all…he could tell it was a lock. Now no one could even go in after him.

Before Shikamaru knew it, he had dropped very hard onto a rigid ground. He rolled onto his stomach, hand clutching his back in pain.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Nara. My, you do look like your father! Oh well…once I'm done with you…"

"AGH!" Shikamaru felt whiplash heavily on his back.

"…You won't anymore."

**SHIKA! NO! You'll see what becomes of this situation soon! Don't worry! R and R!**


	8. Choice or a Privilege

**Here ya go: )**

Chapter 8:

A Choice or a Privilege

Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes. He took one look around, and slightly panicked. He was in a darkened room, with a single light in the corner creating a freakily dim effect in the room.

He looked to his left. He saw Ino and Marnie both tied to chairs. Marnie was unharmed, but looked frightened. Ino, on the other hand, had a blooming black eye and was bleeding down her mouth and bit out her nose. She was clearly unconscious. He noticed something else about the two girls.

Both of them didn't have their necklaces anymore.

"Why that-" Shikamaru attempted lifting an arm when he looked down. He was strapped to a chair too. Ok, why didn't he see that before?

"Comfortable?" Mina's shrill voice came next to him. Just as he turned to face her, she slapped him. Hard. "Good," she said icily.

Shikamaru could feel his cheek burning as it throbbed. "What' s wrong with you?" he mustered in his pain.

Mina plopped into a chair.

"Well," Shikamaru heard clanks. She had nine chains around her wrists as she swung the trinkets back and forth with her finger. "I think we went over this. But just for all times take, we'll go over it _again," _she swung the trinkets back into her palm and gripped them. "Now that there are some new additions," she said regarding him. She stood up and walked back and forth. She placed the necklaces on the table next to her.

"Where to begin?" she pretended to think deeply. "Ah. Well, one," she ticked off a finger. "I haven't obtained all ashes of my past yet," Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. _What does she mean? She has all the necklaces. _"Two," she continued. "My apprentice has abandoned me…little weakling. I knew she wouldn't be able to handle life on the edge the minute I saw her. Oh well," she sighed. "Last, and _certainly _not least, not only are the _offspring_ of my past foes still living, but as are two of them!" She snapped her head around at him. "Answer your question?"

"Um…sure," he said, confused. Mina growled as she whipped her head back around.

"Are you at all scared, boy?" she asked him darkly. He looked at Ino.

"I wouldn't say scared as much as I am pissed off," he said, trying with all his might to break the tape's bind.

"Oh? You do not tremble in fear at the sight of your little lover-girl in such deep pain?" she asked dramatically. "Honestly, Shikamaru. This worthless girl comes in for no more than two weeks, and you fawn over her as if she were gold." She scoffed. "Tell me," she walked over to a table and picked up a sharp knife. "Would you rather join me…" She took the knife and snapped open Shikamaru's tape. "And live? Or stay with her…" she seized him by the neck and threw him at Ino's lap. "And die?" She whispered in his ear.

As she said this, she drew the knife along his arm, blood trickling down his arm. He did not falter.

_With others…_

"Damn it!" Asuma slammed his fist onto the wall after many failed attempts to lift the tile, making a dent. "How do we get down there???"

Kurenai and Tenten paced. He was right…what were they going to do?

Tenten sat in a chair and began swiveling in it. Movement often calmed her.

"Oh my god, oh my god, Ino where are you?" she said to herself as she laced her fingers into her hair. In frustration, she tugged out her hair things, her buns rolling down and out. "Urgh…" she growled, snapping her hair things with her fingers. Man, she really was mad.

"You…you look different with your hair down," said a bashful voice next to her. She turned and looked up to find herself looking into Neji's pearly whites.

"You mean, like better?" she asked, blushing.

"Yeah, well sort of, just…different." He didn't know why he was saying this at a time like this, but it felt right. "You don't leave it down often, do you?"

"Naw," she said. "It gets too much in the way. Besides, my mom used to wear buns when she was my age. I have some pictures of her. I just kind of wanted to…"

"…Carry on the legacy your mom started?" Neji finished for her.

"Exactly," she said looking up at him, this time feeling like she was looking into something far deeper than just his milky white eyes.

"Trust me," he said. "I know all about what it's like to carry something on." He looked straight into her chocolate eyes. _Her eyes are almost the exact same shade of brown as her hair…it's kind of unique actually. And I have no idea why I'm thinking this. But at the same time, I think I kind of do._

"I guess it's like you said," Tenten said. "We are all in the same boat."

Neji smiled. And this time it wasn't a smirk. It wasn't a half smile. It was true, warm, genuine smile. Coming from the stoic Neji Hyuuga.

_With Shika and Mina…_

"It's a choice Shikamaru…" she whispered. "Death or life. I think there's an obvious answer here." She put her hand gently on his shoulder and massaged it.

"More like…" he said in a trembling voice. "Love or life." He said into Ino's lap as he shook (AN: Lap as in lower thighs near the knees, NOT what some of you might be thinking…)

"Well, you could think of it that way," Mina said. "Or you could think of it as a favor. I mean, look at your little friends…I'm killing them unquestionably. But you…I'm offering you the chance to live. To live on by my side."

"What makes you think I want that?" he asked angrily.

"It's better than death…" she hissed.

As this exchange was being made, Ino came to, but did not open her eyes. For all Mina or Shikamaru knew, she was still sleeping. But no, she was listening to every word said. _What will you choose Shikamaru…_

"A whole hell of a lot better," she added. Shikamaru paused as he brought his head up. It was still bowed though. He let his shoulders drop in a succumbing manner.

"That's right…" Mina encouraged. "See, Shikamaru, death is an option…but living is a privilege." She slipped the knife into his hand and turned the point towards Ino. Ino, having her eyes closed, wasn't aware of this offer.

"I think," he said in a soft voice. "I'll take my chances on that one."

Shikamaru's next move could have made Ino embrace him for the rest of her life.

He turned a slashed Mina's face.

_With others…_

"Wait a second!" Said Kelisa. All heads turned to look at her impatiently. She began bouncing on her ankles a bit.

"Well?" Asuma asked. "Spit it out already!"

"Mina once told me about this think she used to do when she needed to take her anger out," she said.

"Besides killing people?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes. She had this rather odd ritual she said, where she would stop twice and hit the wall as hard as she could three times. After she did that, she felt so much better."

"Look, I don't mean to me rude, because you're obviously having a sentimental moment here, but I really don't see how that little factoid is going to help us out of this right now." Asuma said.

"I just wonder…" Kelisa's voice wandered off. She stopped twice. She hit the wall as hard as she could three times. Nothing. "Hm…maybe…" she thought some more. "Asuma, Neji!" she called to them. "I'm going to need your help with this."

Neji came over. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked.

"I told you," Kelisa answered. "Stomp twice, and hit the wall as hard as you can three times."

"Will do," nodded Asuma. He cracked his neck. "Alright." He said. "Count of three. One…two…"

"Wait!" Kurenai grabbed Asuma's arm, Tenten at her side.

"What is it?" Asuma asked.

"We'll do it too," Tenten said, stepping next to Neji.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," said Neji. "As silly as this little ritual is…we have no idea what the outcome will be."

"I don't care," stated Tenten, not about to budge at all. "Whatever the outcome…we're going through it together."

She discreetly laced her fingers into Neji's. Neji jumped slightly at the contact. He had lots of fangirls in the orphanage, no doubt. He's what we would call a lady-killer. Even so, it's not like he's ever been involved in any way with any of them, let alone held one of their _hands…_

_Whatever. _Neji closed his fingers over Tenten's.

"Fine by me," said Asuma. Kurenai kissed his cheek and stepped beside him.

"Okay," he said again. "One…two….three!"

On three, all of them stopped twice in unison, and hit the wall opposite them with all their strength.

Only milliseconds after, the wall tilted inward almost like the tile, and all of them tumbled in.

**Hope you liked that chappie. As you could see, this one was mainly NejiTen. I need them to have their fluffy moments! Now shikaIno fluff is DEFINITELY underway. Keep reading guys, thanks to all of you! R and R!**


	9. It Brought Me to You

**Chapter 8:**

It Brought Me to You

"AGH! BASTARD!" Mina clutched her bleeding face as she quickly drew back. Ino shot her eyes open at long last, and cringed at what she saw, clamping a hand over her mouth.

"Oh my-" she cut off in order to stop her gag reflexes from activating.

"Ino!" Shikamaru breathed in relief, turning to face her. He run over to her when something grabbed his collar from behind.

"Oh no you don't!" Mina rasped in pain. She threw him against the wall next to Ino.

"Shikamaru!" Ino was about to come to his aid when Mina simply put her hand out.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" she said, keeping a perfect grip on Shikamaru's neck with only one hand.

"And just why-" Ino was cut off as she felt immense pain. Mina had taken her fingers and pressed them into Ino's bruised eye. Ino's eye immediately started tearing in pain as she withdrew. "Agh!"

"I—I---no…" Shikamaru gapped with his few breaths of air.

"I gave you a chance…" Mina growled, her face inches away from Shikamaru's. "I offered to let you live. But no, you just had to go PUSHING things!" On the word 'pushing', she squeezed his neck even harder. He was sure that any more pressure, and he could just say goodbye to his windpipe and voicebox.

Ino was still in pain. Marnie had started crying at the traumatizing sight she just witnessed. Ino took her in her arms regardless of her pain and cradled her.

"Shhh…we'll get out of this…" she felt a hand clamp over her mouth. She tried to make noise, but then she heard a sharp 'sssh'. She looked up and smiled.

"I think…I'll kill you…with what killed me all those years ago…" Mina breathed as she reached back with one hand to the tabletop to retrieve the necklaces. "I'm thinking…choking you with the chains? Slashing you with the charms? You be the judge, I don't have all-" She stopped. She noticed that her hand was feeling all around the table, but she found no necklaces.

"Shit…" she said as she dropped the coughing Shikamaru to the ground. "Where the hell-"

"Right here." Just as Mina turned around, she gasped to see Asuma, Kurenai, Kelisa, Tenten and Neji standing in the corner. Asuma was swinging the necklaces around his fingers. "Loose somethn'?" He asked.

"You," she growled. "I thought I got you people off my tail."

"See, Mina, that's where you went wrong," Asuma said as he advanced. "You always assume that running from your problems will get them off your tail." Then, he reached down his shirt and pulled something out. It was his platinum necklace. "Well look where it's gotten you."

During this time, Kurenai had run to Ino to get Marnie.

"Sweetie!" She bunched up Marnie in her arms and rocked her. She looked down at Ino. "Thank you…" she put her hand on Ino's head. "For not letting harm come to her."

"Don't mention it," said Ino. Then, she felt another hand, only on her shoulder. She turned. "…Shikamaru," she turned red as she looked down at her lap.

"Hey," he said smoothly. "Look at me." He took her chin and lifted it to face his. He almost took in a sharp breath at seeing how bashed up she really was. "Are you alright?" He asked sternly.

"I think so…" she said softly. "But…are you?" She asked, touching his neck without thinking.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll live."

"Thank god," she said, holding her chest. "Just watching her try and strangle you made me want to-" Ino was cut off by Shikamaru's lips on hers. Perhaps it wasn't exactly the time to make out, but then again, it sort of was. Bad place, good time. Shikamaru had felt like he knew her even before all of this happened.

"You know," he whispered after they released.

"What?" Ino asked, still dazed after the leg-weakening kiss.

"Despite all the crap I've been under here…I think it was worth it."

"Why?" Ino ask stupidly, though she knew perfectly why.

"It brought me to you," He said, blushing. Ino blushed too.

"I can definitely see why my parents would have been friends with yours. I'm sure they…" She sniffed, as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. "…cared about eachother."

Shikamaru wiped the tear away.

"Well you know what's left to do now, then, right?" He asked her.

"What?" She asked.

"I've…just about…had enough of you kids…" Ino heard Mina's voice behind her, as Asuma had her in a headlock.

"Kick her ass."

"I think I'll enjoy that," Ino said, rubbing her hands together giddily.

"We all will…" said Tenten.

**ShikaIno fluff! I know, cheese, fluff, don't be mad, I'M OBSESSED with cheesy fluff. But it's not done yet, don't worry. Well…if anyone was worrying in the first place. Keep reading, sorry I made this a short-notice quick chapter.**


	10. Revenge, Sweet Revenge

**Hope ya like it!!!**

Chapter 9:

Revenge, sweet revenge…

"I'm thinking…strangle her with the chains? Slash her face with the charms? What do you guys think?" Asuma asked the others, intentionally mocking Mina as she kicked to break free of his headlock. "Stop kicking, you! It's no use anyway!"

"Unhand me now you-" Asuma slapped his hand over Mina's mouth.

"Whoa now Mina! Language! We have children here." Asuma shook a disciplinary finger at her.

"Urrrgh…"

"Hi, Mina!" Tenten said sweetly as she strode up to where Asuma and her were tangling. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better…unph!!!!"

Tenten planted a hard punch, dead on into Mina's stomach, making her choke up blood.

"Well you're about to get a hell of a lot worse," Tenten whispered in Mina's ear.

"You…suck…" Mina whispered. Tenten chuckled at the lame comeback.

"Thank you," she replied, walking back to her friends.

It was now Kurenai's turn to get her vengeance. She walked up to them.

"Now, I won't be crude or violent, as for one, I don't want my baby witnessing such behavior, and two, I don't want to make like you," she said calmly to Mina. Mina sighed in relief.

"But that doesn't mean Marnie doesn't have anything to say for all your crap she's endured."

Mina was about to protest when Marnie started biting Mina's ear until it bled. (AN: She's a mini Mike Tyson!) Mina, being the potential coward she was, groaned in pain at the bite of an infant who barely even had her teeth in. Kurenai just laughed as Marnie released Mina's ear, coherently satisfied as you could see in her now bright expression.

"Oh, by the way," Kurenai said before walking away. "You can just forget about this." She held up the custody paper and tore it to shreds. Kurenai smiled, and walked away as Mina growled.

Kelisa walked up next.

"You disappoint me, Kelisa," Mina said in a slithering voice to Kelisa. Kelisa just closed her eyes.

"No, aunt Mina," she said. "It is you who disappoints me." After saying this, Kelisa took her long manicured thumbnail, and sliced it down Mina's already bruised arm. Mina shrieked a shrill scream of pain. Kelisa was unaffected. She simply smiled and walked away, feeling accomplished. She walked back.

Next up, Neji.

Neji didn't say much. His hard punch to Mina's face pretty much said it all. However, he did still have to say something to the woman who killed his parents.

"Just something to keep in mind while you're burning you days away in Hell," he said in his dangerous low voice. "This is Hyuuga. Neji Hyuuga…asshole."(AN: Ok, ok, that last sentence was from the movie "Constantine", but I just couldn't resist…but the first one was all me : )

Neji folded his arms stiffly over his chest and walked back to the group.

"Wow, you're pretty intimidating," Tenten teased, nudging Neji. Neji looked away and smirked.

"It's often what I aim for," he said without thinking. He turned quickly back to Tenten to cover up his mistake, but found himself lowering his lips upon hers.

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise at first, then slowly closed as she deepened the kiss. She put his arms around his neck, and could have laughed right then to discover that he got goose bumps. _Even the most intimidating guys have their weaknesses._

Ino and Shikamaru just watched this happen.

"Remind you of some people?" Shikamaru asked softly, smiling. At this, Ino blushed.

"Yeah," she said, returning his smile with double the warmth. Then, she felt a hand upon her back, gently pushing her forward. It was Shikamaru's.

"Go on," he said. "Go get your revenge on that retard for having killed your parents. Out of all the people here…I think you need the satisfaction the most."

"I don't really find my satisfaction in vengeance," Ino said back. "Well, at least not all of it."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. "Then, wha-" Ino kissed him this time. As you can probably tell, this rejoice happened to bring out the teen's feelings for one another. Though they all could tell, they had never expressed it. And this time in particular seemed right.

When they released, Shikamaru looked happy, but confused. Ino giggled.

"Since you got to make the first move," she said. Shikamaru laughed.

"Right," he said.

"Now," Ino said, brushing dirt off her rags. While Asuma had been securing Mina in her headlock, Tenten and Kurenai had applied bandages to her wounds. She secured the bandage on one of her arms."I'm going to go get my vengeance."

"Good idea," he said back.

Ino walked towards Mina, a stern look on her face. She stopped and stared a solid, deadly stare at her. She slowly pulled her fist back and held it there.

"Go ahead," Asuma said. "Take a swing at her. She deserves it."

Ino just kept her fist drawn back. She thought through everything that had happened. From the night Mina cut her hair off, to the evidence files, to what was happening this second of this moment. Ino slid her other hand into her pocket and pulled out the hair she had tied together that one night. She tossed it up a bit and looked down at it. A tear dropped from her eyes to the angel strands, tear staining them. She slid the hair back into her pocket and looked back up at Mina furiously. Her first quivered.

Suddenly, for an odd reason, Ino's face seemed to loose its anger lines and went calm. She slowly dropped her fist. She looked back up at Mina confidently, and shook her head.

"Not even worth it," she said, turning her back to Mina. "…Not even worth it."

She walked back to her confused looking friends.

"Ino, what happened to vengeance?" Shikamaru reminded her.

"Caring about getting back at her would require me caring about her. And to me, she's doesn't even exist," Ino said, squinting. Shikamaru's confused face turned to understanding.

"I…I see," he said. He looked slowly back up at Mina. Then to the pained Ino. Then back at Mina. Then to the bruised up Tenten and Neji (AN: They have long since stopped making out, don't worry). Then back up at Mina. He got angry.

"I don't know, Ino," he said. "You may not care about getting back at her," he started forward toward Mina, picking up the knife on the side table as he walked. "But I do."

Ino looked back at Shikamaru. Her eyes widened at first in shock as her eyes found the knife in his hands, but then she calmed. She knew that if it wasn't her who was going to take vengeance out on Mina, it was going to be one of them.

Tenten and Neji smiled maliciously as they watched this. This was the moment they had been waiting for for years. That day felt like magic to them, in more ways than one.

Shikamaru planted his feet before Mina. Mina looked up at him, her face swelling and puffy.

"I always knew, deep inside me Shikamaru Nara, that you never had the makings of a real genius in you," she said in a low tone. Shikamaru grimaced.

"Please. Spare us all." He looked up at Asuma and nodded. Asuma smiled.

"At long last," he said happily, as he secured Mina more firmly for the last time. "Time to go down," he said to her. He threw her against a wall, and let Shikamaru take care of the rest.

"This," Shikamaru stabbed Mina's arm. "Is for hurting my friends."

He took a breath, but he still wasn't finished yet. Mina simply clutched her bloody arm.

"This," Shikamaru stabbed her other arm, disabling that one as well. "Is for killing my parents and my friend's parents."

Just when you thought it was done, Shikamaru still had one last word.

"And this," he hissed. "Is for hurting the girl I love."

Off that, he stabbed Mina dead center in her heart.

After this, Mina clutched her bleeding chest as she fell to her knees, then to her stomach. A few muffled sounds of pain were heard before they heard nothing. She was dead.

And as any normal person would be, the teens and three adults were overjoyed.

Tenten and Ino jumped giddily and hugged each other as Neji and Shikamaru slapped each other a boyish high-five. Kurenai swung her arm that wasn't supporting baby Marnie around Asuma's neck and planted a kiss on his lips. He kissed her back.

"I can't believe it," he said smiling, shaking his head. "I just can't."

"None of us can." Kurenai smiled back and hugged him again.

Shikamaru, Neji, Ino and Tenten walked up to the bleeding body of Mina. Neji kicked it.

"Yep," he concluded. "She's dead as a doornail."

"And thank God," Tenten said. Ino nodded in agreement.

Shikamaru looked down at the body coldly, then a smirk curled on his face as he thought deeper in to the outcome.

"This woman won't be handling _anyone's _kids. Ever again."

**I hope you liked the chappie! It's not done yet though, I'm planning on one more chapter. I hope you guys look for it, thanks so much for reading, R and R!**


	11. Not Such a Hard Kocked Life After all

**IN PAIN. Owowow…I got a quadruple whammy, some might say. Not only were my braces tightened, but also-**

**-I had a chain added**

**-I got rubber bands**

**-the woman who was trimming my wires accidentally snapped off a bracket because she's a fool, and had to re-glue it.**

**-she pushed so frickin hard on my teeth to get the wire in, my gums are so sore.**

**My bad. I won't gush on about that anymore.**

**Anyway, I'm REALLY sorry about how graphic and bloody the last chapter was, but as I told some people, I'm really against child abuse and didn't want all of the teens to just leave her honorably like Ino. **

**And sorry guys…I got a lot of reviews that are like "I liked it BUT…" and you all mentioned some really good stuff that would have been so much better than what I put, lol, but oh well, the ship has sailed.**

**Last chappie I think! Hope you like!**

Chapter 10:

Not Such a Hard Knocked Life After All!

"So tell me again what this woman would do to you if you failed to do your chores?" A policeman interrogated a group of orphans, as other fellow cops questioned other groups, and others scoured the rooms for more evidence.

"Well, she would first slap us," answered a small boy. The cop wrote this down.

"Uh huh…" he said, acknowledging them to go on.

"And if we protested, she would punch us or something," replied an eleven-year-old boy.

"Do you have physical proof of this woman's abuse?" the cop asked them, putting the butt of his pen to his mouth.

Immediately, each kids rolled up their sleeves and pant legs, and some boys even held up their shirts to reveal bruises, cuts and scars.

This was enough for the cops. Nearly shaking, he nodded.

"Right…that'll be enough. We'll get you all on some medicine momentarily," he nodded at the medics. There were many, and each carried out a first-aid kit to tend to the wounds of the many children.

There were also walking next to Kelisa. Speaking of Kelisa, it was decided she would be taken in for questioning at the station, and if she was pleaded part guilty of the acts against the children, she would be jailed, but if not, she'd be let free. Where thing's were at this point, and the children's explanations that she was merely a slave of Mina, it was a pretty good bet she'd be free.

It was then that the cop walked over to Ino, Tenten, Shikamaru, Neji, Asuma and Kurenai. They looked at him hopefully as he scanned through some files.

"Well…according to these here files, all of your claims are true. But do you happen to have the necklaces on ya?" He asked them, tapping his clipboard.

"Sure do," Shikamaru said as he pulled out the necklaces from his pocket. "You might need them for evidence?" The cop did not look up at Shika, but held up a hand in a 'not necessary' way.

"Hm…" The cop looked in the files more. "These kids seem to back your claims as well, so I guess we aren't eligible to charge you for murder. I'm just glad we caught the DP Ripper," he said, looking back at the body bag.

Asuma chuckled. "The DP Ripper?" he asked. "Is that what you called her?"

"Well, it made sense…" muttered the cop sheepishly. "But there still goes something unresolved," he said.

"What?" Kurenai blinked.

"We still need to figure out where we're gonna house all these orphans," he answered, gesturing the all the kids behind him. "Records would say over three fourths would have caught some kind of sickness from the dirty atmosphere down here, and pretty much all of them are bruised up. We can keep them in the hospital for a short while, but after that we just don't know," he shook his head.

Asuma thought for a second. "Well, Kurenai…I think we just might have found a way to make enough money to support our child…and more if you know what I mean."

Kurenai gasped. "Asuma…you can't be thinking…"

"It's possible…" said Asuma.

"But how do you plan on doing that?" She asked.

"Anyone mind explaining what you're talking about?" asked Ino.

"Inherited a large penthouse from my pops," said Asuma. "I've always been wondering what to do with it. Never wanted to sell it- not only was it practically a family heirloom, but also no one would by that piece of crap for more than fifty bucks. So…I was thinking…maybe there's a use for it," he thought aloud.

Now, all four of the teens took in a gasp.

"Asuma, are you serious???" Tenten squealed.

"Starting an orphanage???" Ino finished, just as happily.

"Bingo," he smiled. "If that's alright with the officials," he turned to the cop.

The cop thought for a bit, as the rest of them bit their lips in anxiety. Ino squinted her eyes shut as she pleaded to herself. _Please, please, please…_

"Well, you're gonna need some training," concluded the cop. "I mean, we can't just hand a bunch kids over to anybody. We're gonna need to check ya for the basic stuff…maternal and paternal capabilities, no homicidal tendencies, the usual," he said, smirking.

"No problem," agreed Asuma. "When do you think we'd get to open it up?"

"Depends," answered the officer. "How's its condition?" At this, Asuma gulped.

"Well, I guess we could fix it up," he answered hesitantly.

"We'll help if you want," offered Shikamaru.

"You will?"

"Of course," chirped Tenten and Ino. Neji gave a simple nod of approval. That was Neji though, always keeping it cool.

"Well, great! So that's settled!"

"But Asuma…" Kurenai put her hand on Asuma's arm. "What will we do about money? If we don't have enough money to support one child, we're sure not going to be able to have enough to support a near hundred or so." Asuma's face fell as the money state kicked into his memory.

"Oh…you've got a point there," he said, gritting his teeth.

"How bout this then," offered the cop, putting his hands together. "We'll train you for a few months while the children are hospitalized and counseled, and when it's all done, we'll hand them over to you. Leave the custody papers to us. Keep in mind, by then, we expect it all to be spick and spam in that place of yours, we clear? Don't want any germs coming within a two-mile radius of these kids after what they've been through. The PD will offer full financial aid until you get up to speed with everything, how bout that?"

Asuma's eyes widened, and as did Kurenai's. Kurenai looked up at him and tweaked an eyebrow, her eyes saying 'well?'

"You've got yourself a deal," smiled Asuma, taking the cops hand and shaking it.

"Good to be doin business with ya, buddy," the cop said, putting his sunglasses back on. "So we're just gonna clear things up here, and contact some hospitals, and then you better get crackin with that house!"

"Uh, er, yes sir!" stuttered Asuma in confusion that seemed to be overcome with pure joy.

Tenten and Ino looked at each other with the biggest smiles they've ever had. This was way too good to be true.

Even Neji had to smile at the occurrences. So many years, so many bad memories…and they all have come to an abrupt halt today. As hard as it was for him to admit, the whole thing seemed surreal.

Shikamaru grinned. That was Asuma for you. Taking initiative when needed. It's a shame he couldn't be a father.

"Wait a split sec," said the cop, turning back to them. "What about these here kids?" He pointed his pen at them.

"Well, what about em?" asked Asuma. "They'll be staying with us too."

"Oh, really? As orphans?" he asked, blinking.

"Well, yes…what did you have in mind?" Kurenai replied, tilting her head.

"Oh, nothing…I just assumed they were yours, is all," the cop said. He simply shrugged and walked away.

Asuma thought hard on what the cop had said. Now that they had financial aid, not to mention the fact that Kurenai had torn up the legal papers, Marnie was now theirs again. But…there's always more room for a family, right?

"Hey, hun" he said, giving Kurenai's shoulder a squeeze.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Have you ever considered foster care? Or better yet…adoption?" he said this in a lower whisper.

"What?" she said loudly. Asuma shushed her, and then she spoke softer. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, first off, if we were to take in anyone's children here as our own, who'd be better to take in than our best friends kids? Second, I have a feeling Marnie would want some siblings. So…what do ya say?" His voice grew more and more powerful with enthusiasm as he asked this.

"Well, I don't know what to say," Kurenai answered in shock, yet obvious happiness. "Well, I'm ok with it. But it's not really up to us in the long run. What do the kids think?"

Asuma stroked his chin. "Well that's simple. We ask them," he said obviously.

"Ask us what?" Tenten said, coming up behind Asuma, looking up at him in curiosity. Behind her was Ino, followed by the two boys.

"Well," said Asuma, turning to face them as he put his arm around Kurenai and gently moved her over beside him. "Kurenai and I were thinking, were wondering, if we could possibly, if that's alright with you that is, and it's perfectly ok if you-"

"Dear," Kurenai hissed. "Just get on with it," she chuckled. Asuma laughed as he sweat-dropped in slight embarrassment.

"Ah…right. Well, we were wondering what you guys would think about us adopting you."

At this, silence followed. It wasn't mockery silence, but serious silence. Silence that had great thought, and still great happiness. Though it may have felt like the most prolonged silence in the world, it was definitely the loudest silence.

"Oh my god, Asuma!" Ino suddenly shrieked in joy as flung her arms around his neck for a hug. "Are you being serious???"

"Completely," he said, smiling.

"OH MY GOD!" Tenten said in the exact same fashion, also flinging her arms around Asuma, as the two girls hugged their soon-to-be-father.

The boys, however, stood still in thought. They looked at the floor bashfully.

"What is it, boys?" Kurenai asked, as her face turned worried.

"Look," said Shikamaru softly. "I'll answer for both of us. You guys are awesome…if we were ever to have any other parents, it would definitely be you guys. But at the same time, that's the thing. We don't…we just…" Shikamaru began to tear as he said this to the ground. "Please don't be offended…"

Asuma put his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. Shikamaru looked up at him.

"I understand every word you're saying, kid," he smiled fatherly. "If you don't wanna cut your old parents out of your life, that's honestly fine by me."

Neji and Shikamaru looked at him shockingly. How did he know…?

"I'm good with reading people," Asuma laughed, reading their minds. "After all, I did know your fathers almost my whole life. I could read them better than I could read a book, and who's to say the same doesn't go for their sons? Don't be sorry boys. Your parents were great people. And like them, whatever choices you make, we're here to back 'em." Asuma nodded.

"Thank you," said Neji in his low voice. Tenten looked closer. _Oh my gosh…is he crying??? _

"Dit…ditto," Shikamaru agreed, smiling.

The girls watched on. For some reason, it touched their hearts to see the boys act so emotional. It told them that they could be real, and didn't just hide behind impassive masks as some boys often did. They were _genuine._

And that's what they loved about them.

Without another word, Asuma took the two boys into a hug. However, it wasn't a mushy hug like the girls was. It was the masculine, slap high five, pull the other in shoulder to shoulder and slap them on the back kind of hug. (AN: I've witnessed this amongst my brother and his friends.)

"But," said Asuma. "If anyone comes around to the orphanage, looking to adopt some strong, responsible teenage boys, I just may need to hide ya!" he joked, punching them in the arms.

The boys smirked back. "No worries," said Shikamaru, as each boy was now composed. "I can tell we're going to be at your orphanage for a long time."

The girls couldn't help but notice that as this was said, the boys look pointedly at them.

But the girls weren't the only ones who noticed. So did Asuma.

"Now boys!" he said, pretending to be taken aback. "You're not thinking of getting cozy with my soon to be daughters, now are you?"

The boys looked away to hide their blush.

"I'm just kidding with ya," he said as he patted their shoulders and walked past them. "We'll see you guys later, ok? We're just going to need to go over some legal stuff. Till then!" He saluted them as he and Kurenai walked off.

The teens laughed as they saluted back. Well, at least Tenten and Ino did. Shikamaru and Neji mostly smirked and did a half-wave.

"So," said Ino, breaking the eerie silence that followed. "That's one heck of a happy ending for you."

"Sure is," agreed Shikamaru, walking closer to her.

"Come on," said Neji, gesturing his head towards the balcony. Let's get one last look at the wasteland before we're out of here forever, what do you say?"

"I'm in!" Tenten chirped right away.

"You game?" Shikamaru asked Ino, looking at her for approval.

"Of course!"

With that, they all walked down the hall and to the double doors that led to the balcony.

As they took the first step out, they were overwhelmed to face the fresh air once again. These doors had been locked when Mina was in control, as fresh air was her mortal enemy practically. They each took a whiff of the air as they stepped over caution tape that was put there by police for whatever reason. They walked out further on the platform and rested their arms on the railing.

"…What a day," said Shikamaru, sighing.

"You can say that again." Neji drummed his fingers on the ledge.

"You guys looking forward to Asuma's orphanage?" Ino asked. The boys lifted there heads.

"Yeah," they both said in unison.

"Us too," said Tenten, twiddling her thumbs.

"I'm really happy for you by the way," Neji told her, as Shikamaru and Ino started up a conversation between them selves. "You deserve parents. Having not have ever experienced what it was like…you need it more than anyone, huh?"

Tenten let her hands drop to her sides as she looked up at Neji. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said. "I'm really happy for you too," she added. Neji looked baffled by this remark.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I think for the first time since I've known you…which has been, what? Five or six years? I've never seen you shed a tear once. And for some reason, having seen you shed one today, make me realize…that you're not a stoic after all."

Neji's eyes widened mostly at the praise, but half at the last remark. "Pardon? You thought I was a stoic?" he looked partly embarrassed.

Tenten giggled. "Truth?" she asked him. He nodded. "…yep."

Neji smiled now. "Good. That's what I aim for, remember?"

Tenten giggled more at this. After these words were exchanged, she was almost freaked to feel a hesitant hand creep up her back, moving to around her shoulder. She blushed a deep shade of crimson. _I think I broke Neji Hyuuga, _she smiled to herself. _And what's more…I think he's glad I did._

_With Ino and Shika…_

"Glad you have parents again?" Shikamaru asked Ino warmly.

"Yeah," she answered softly. "I don't think I'd ever want to be adopted by anyone else."

"That's good," he agreed. "Besides, unlike me, you have a really high chance of being adopted by any old fart who waltzes in the orphanage, and now, that won't happen," he noted.

"Haha, well that's true," Ino agreed. "But I really do respect you for standing strong like that."

"Why, because it would be wrong to have a relationship with your brother?" Shikamaru laughed.

"No, well, hm…actually, yeah, but not just that," Ino added, as this realization just dawned on her. _Wow…nice save, guys! _"But also because not everyone could stay true to their pasts like that. I'm not that strong…it's really nice to see that you are."

Suddenly, Shikamaru slipped his arm around Ino's waist and brought her closer to him. "Don't say that," he said.

"Say what?" she asked.

"That you aren't strong," he answered sternly. "You're the one who took the initiative to come bring food to us. None of this would have happened without that one action. But also…not harming Mina after everything she's done…I haven't seen honor like that before in my life. As far as I see it, Ino Yamanaka, you're the strongest person I know."

Ino now buried her face into his chest as she hugged him close to her.

"Thank you Shika…" she said into his chest. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said as he stroked the back of her hair.

When they released, Ino caught tenten's eye, and noticed that Neji had his arm around her. Tenten gave a giddy smile at Ino regarding this, and Ino returned it.

_Shika was right. Despite all that's happened here…I wouldn't have changed a thing. _

THE END

**I hope you guys liked it!!! I have another fic coming up, which may or not be any good to anyone since its unfortunately not action/adventure, but it is romance. It's a holiday fic, so I hope you guys look for it! THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!**


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